You may have heard that keeping a foodjournal can help you from overeating, but you probably haven't considered takingphotos of your meals before you eat them. Researchers have found that picture journalsmay be more effective than the traditional written food journals:

Now a team of American scientists have compared traditional food diaries withsnapshots.

They asked 43 dieters to record what they ate over one week in words and in pictures, NewScientist magazine reports today.

When the researchers quizzed the volunteers, the photo diaries were a far moreeffective and accurate record of daily calories and a far more powerful disincentiveto overeat.

One volunteer told the researchers: 'I had to think more carefully about whatI was going to eat because I had to take a picture of it.

'I was less likely to have a jumbo bag of M&Ms. It curbed my choices. It didn'talter them completely but who wants to take a photo of a jumbo bag of M&Ms?'

Another volunteer said the photo diaries actually improved the quality of hisdiet.

'I noticed that there weren't too many greens in my diet, which means I shouldtry to eat more vegetables and fruits.' By contrast, the written diaries were usuallycompleted long after each meal and did not provide as powerful a reminder of the sizeand quality of meals and snacks.

'Overall, the participants demonstrated greater awareness of their diet when viewingthe photographs than when reflecting on their written notes,' the researchers said.

I'm thinking that I'd like to give this 'FlashDiet' a try as an experiment to see how well it really works. Starting Monday(Sept.7) and going through Friday I'm going to photograph my meals and share themwith you each day. I'll reflect on my experiences everyday and hopefully draw somesort of conclusion.

This weblog is sponsored by www.BeHollywoodFit.com- Celebrity Diet Fitness.